Natcore reaches solar cell milestone

Natcore Technology Inc.’s research and development center in Rochester has created the first black silicon solar cell for conversion to electricity, company officials announced Thursday.

“This is a major milestone for Natcore and the entire solar industry,” Chairman Brien Lundin said in a statement. A low-cost, scalable production process was the missing piece in making black silicon solar cells viable. We now look forward to providing this key capability.”

Natcore, which has an R&D agreement with the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, will work with the lab to incorporate the solar cell and improve the efficiency of turning solar energy to electricity, company officials said.

“Natcore is the nearest-term and best partner for commercialization of the black silicon technology,” said Eric Payne, NREL senior licensing executive, in a statement.

The reflectivity of Natcore’s absolute black silicon wafers is nearly zero, with virtually 100 percent of the light reaching them available for conversion to electricity, company officials said.